


Holder Magic

by dragonshost



Category: Fairy Tail
Genre: F/F
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-08
Updated: 2020-08-08
Packaged: 2021-03-06 07:54:10
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,841
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25789915
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/dragonshost/pseuds/dragonshost
Summary: When Lisanna tries to learn a levitation spell with no success, Lucy gives her some very close instruction on the topic of Holder Magic.
Relationships: Lucy Heartfilia/Lisanna Strauss
Comments: 2
Kudos: 30





	Holder Magic

**Author's Note:**

  * For [sassyhazelowl](https://archiveofourown.org/users/sassyhazelowl/gifts).



“Whatcha doing there, Lisanna?” Lucy asked, plopping down onto the bench beside her. Whatever it was Lisanna was doing, it seemed to involve a lot of small objects - rocks, mostly, but a couple of empty wooden mugs, a dish rag, and a pen, as well as (the weirdest of the bunch) an egg.

Lisanna sighed, setting down a small stick on the table top. “Trying to learn a new magic.” Seeing Lucy’s continued curious gaze still trained on her, Lisanna further clarified, “Levitation. It seemed like it would be useful around the bar and kitchen. But it’s not going so well.”

Poking the thin stick Lisanna had set down earlier, Lucy hummed under her breath in thought. She rolled it back and forth under her finger. “Is this for focusing the magic?”

Her companion nodded. “I don’t have a proper wand, but Kinana said that pretty much anything shaped like this would work.” Her fellow barmaid was far too busy to coach her further on the topic though, so she was a bit stuck on how to proceed further with it.

“Well, she’s not wrong, but...”

“But what?” Lisanna prompted, perking up at Lucy’s knowledgeable-sounding words.

Lucy pursed her lips, narrowing her eyes and frowning at the stick.

“What is it, Lucy?”

Her eyes lifting from the makeshift wand, Lucy met Lisanna’s eyes. “Um... have you ever used holder-type magic before, Lisanna?”

The white haired woman shook her head. “Never. I’m an ability-type.”

Understanding dawned in Lucy’s eyes. “That’s what I thought. Well, good news is that I think I know where you’re going wrong with this.”

Lisanna reached out and clutched Lucy’s free hand, drawing it up to her chest. “You do?!” she asked enthusiastically. “Could you please tell me? I would be so grateful!”

A nervous laugh warbled up out of Lucy’s throat. “Don’t worry, I wasn’t going to keep it from you!” She gently extracted her hand from Lisanna’s grip, as it was her dominant one. Picking up the stick, she held it horizontally between their bodies. “All of lot of ability-type users start from the wrong type of thinking when trying to use a holder-type magic,” Lucy explained patiently. “They make the assumption that the object holds the magic, and that just reciting the words and making the proper motions will be enough to activate the magic.”

Chagrin swept through Lisanna in a hot wave. Lucy was right. Lisanna had assumed that. “What should I do instead, then?” she asked, glad that she had a holder-type mage willing to talk her through it. There weren’t that many in the guild in the first place, and she was sure that Lucy had better things to do with her time than guide her through a simple magic that even a non-mage could handle easily.

“Truth be told you’re not _that_ far off in your understanding,” Lucy informed her. “Objects like wands usually do come pre-loaded with a spell, or multiple depending on the quality of the ensorcelled object... with the price increasing depending on the type and strength and number of spells. But it’s still up to the wielder to activate them. Here, watch this.” Lucy extended her arm out, the stick now held over the table. “Hold it out like this for me.” Then she passed the stick over to Lisanna.

Lisanna copied the movement, her arm extended to its fullest over the table. “Does my grip matter?”

Lucy shrugged. “For some wands, probably. But this is a normal stick so it doesn’t matter.” Then she reached forward and pressed the skin just above Lisanna’s breasts with two fingertips, her own skin making direct contact with Lisanna’s thanks to the low cut of Lisanna’s blouse. “Now close your eyes and see your magical core in your mind.”

Obeying, Lisanna found it all too easy to concentrate on it, the warmth of Lucy’s finger pads radiating warmth where they connected to her. “Okay...” she breathed out. A bright spark of light, as familiar to her as her own heartbeat, pulsed in her mind’s eye. “I’ve got it.”

“Now imagine the magic flowing from it...” Lucy trailed her fingers across Lisanna’s skin, eliciting a jolt of surprise from the barmaid at the light, tingling sensation. It was through sheer force of will that she kept her eyes closed through it.

Lucy must have leaned closed to Lisanna, for now it came closer to her ear. “Imagine it following this path to your shoulder...” Her breath came out in soft puffs of warm air on Lisanna’s cheek, sending shivers throughout her body. “...And out from your shoulder into your arm, all the way...” Lucy’s fingers trailed the same path she outlined with her voice, Lisanna’s magic swelling under her touch and crackling like electricity as it followed in the wake of her fingers. “...Past your elbow...” Finally Lucy’s fingers reached the palm of Lisanna’s hand though they did not stop there, continuing on to the stick now a little slick with Lisanna’s sweat. “...All the way to your hand and into the stick and into its tip.”

Her magic complied in Lisanna’s mind’s eye, unable to swerve from the path Lucy had carved into her skin with her gentle, delicate touch.

“Now open your eyes,” commanded Lucy.

Lisanna did so, her blue eyes meeting Lucy’s vibrant brown ones far too close to her face for comfort.

A smile curled on Lucy’s face. “Look at the stick now.”

Turning her head, Lisanna looked. A bright spark of light shone at the end of the stick Lisanna held, pulsing in time with her heartbeat (which was more rapid than she’d like to admit). Soon, a smile of her own had broken out on her lips at the sight.

“Good job,” Lucy praised her. “That would be enough to activate any stored spell in an object.” She paused, then tacked on, “Any object that isn’t cursed, anyway. Those can be activated by your ambient magical output, which is what makes them so dangerous. But for anything without such a delicate hair-trigger, this is the method you use.”

Lisanna nodded her understanding, and then looked back at Lucy. “What should I do next?”

Having not yet backed off - maybe she hadn’t noticed how close she was to Lisanna? - Lucy contemplated the question for a moment. “I’ve never tried a levitation spell before, but... try envisioning a hand coming out of the stick to pick up the... pen.”

“Okay.” The pen seemed light enough. Lisanna concentrated, trying to form the magic into the shape she wanted. It seemed to work at first, but the second she tried to lift the pen, it wobbled and collapsed, breaking apart and scattering, the light dying from the stick entirely. With a frown of concentration, Lisanna summoned up the magic to the makeshift wand once more and tried again to pick up the pen. And again, it broke apart, making the pen wobble on the tabletop but no more. “This... isn’t working,” Lisanna informed Lucy. “It doesn’t want to hold its shape.”

Tapping her lips with a fingertip, Lucy offered, “Maybe it’s because your magic is used to residing in your skin? And doesn’t hold together outside of it?”

Lisanna bit her bottom lip. “You mean it uses my body as a frame?”

“Mmn.” Lucy nodded. “Yeah. Like water. It needs a container to hold it in shape.” She paused for a moment, deep in thought. “Or... no. Maybe it’s more like a muscle? It could get stronger with more practice.”

A sigh released from Lisanna’s lips. “So basically I won’t be able to do this spell. At least not right now.”

Lucy’s face twisted up in thought. “I wouldn’t be too sure about that.” She tapped the end of the stick. “Try putting your magic into here again.”

Doing so, Lisanna looked to Lucy for further instruction.

“Now imagine that the point is super sticky,” Lucy told her, spreading her hands out and then pressing the fingertips of each hand together. “Like really, really sticky. Like... tree sap.”

Nodding, Lisanna envisioned it with all of her might. There was no visible change in the light at the end of the stick, but Lisanna could feel that something about it had changed all the same. “Now what?”

“Press it against the pen, and think of it sticking hard to it.” After Lisanna complied, Lucy reached out and gently took Lisanna’s elbow in her hand. “Now keep that image solid in your mind.” When Lisanna nodded that she had it, Lucy lifted Lisanna’s arm at the elbow.

To their mutual delight, when the makeshift wand lifted, the pen came with it, stuck fast to the tip.

Lowering Lisanna’s arm, Lucy instructed, “Now imagine it releasing the pen.” Lisanna did so, the pen uncoupling from the stick successfully. Lucy then guided Lisanna’s arm over to the wooden mug. “Let’s try something heavier.”

“Wouldn’t the egg be more appropriate, weight-wise?” Lisanna inquired.

Lucy shook her head. “Too messy if you drop it accidentally.”

That was a fairly good point.

Together, they repeated the process from before with the mug. Lisanna had to pour more magic into the stick to get it to properly adhere to the mug, however soon it was in the air just like the pen had been.

Just as Lisanna was about to exclaim happily, the stick violently exploded in her hand. She winced as splinters embedded themselves into her flesh and the mug dropped onto the tabletop, bouncing and rolling away, clattering onto the floor on the opposite side.

“Are you alright, Lisanna?!” Lucy asked, grabbing the clean dish rag Lisanna had been practicing upon earlier and pressing it against the woman’s hand. “I’m sorry!” she babbled, panic in her eyes. “I should have warned you that could happen when the magic exceeds a vessel’s capacity. I’m so sorry.”

To Lucy’s visible surprise, Lisanna threw her free arm around Lucy and drew her in close. “It’s alright!” she told her, pressing her face against the side of Lucy’s head. “It’s not your fault. It was an accident is all. And it doesn’t hurt that much.” Then she smiled slightly, even though she knew Lucy couldn’t see it from their current position. “It’s a good thing we didn’t go with the egg, though. That was a good call on your part.”

Lucy let out a short laugh, no longer stiff in Lisanna’s grip and instead leaning into the embrace. “Let’s get the splinters pulled out before we try again, though?”

Lisanna nodded, drawing back slightly. But before she pulled away completely, she placed a peck on Lucy’s cheek, the skin warming and reddening under her lips as she did. “Thank you, Lucy,” she told her, now pulling away enough to look the blonde in the eyes. “For the help. I mean it.”

Red faced, Lucy nodded shortly. “Y-you’re wel... welcome,” she said, swallowing heavily. “Any... any time. I’m glad I came over to see what you were doing.”

Lisanna, too, was very glad that she had.

Very, very much so.


End file.
